


a pretty little songbird

by DarkSideEmissary



Category: The Devil's Carnival (Movies)
Genre: Character Study, Dystopia, Gen, Loss of Innocence, Lost Love, Stream of Consciousness, heaven is a dystopia, stepford smiler
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-15
Updated: 2017-08-15
Packaged: 2018-12-15 14:45:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11808120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkSideEmissary/pseuds/DarkSideEmissary
Summary: She would kill the thoughts then, ruthless and swift, fearful of who might be watching too closely with eyes that undress even her private thoughts. (There is no such thing as privacy in Heaven.)Cora reflects on the past, the present and the future that must not be.





	a pretty little songbird

Cora knew hatred as she never did once upon a time when she was fresh-deceased, bright-eyed and innocent. Naturally, this did not mean that she could not give coquettish smiles; not _too_ coquettish but just perfect as Heaven demanded, and sing and dance and play the starlet. 

What choice did she have? She was a favoured angel just for now; she knew the fragility of her station in ways that June had never comprehended until it was far too late.

(She dreams: of June’s grace and mouth and fingers. She dreams: of the Librarian’s casual power and hard eyes and his voice and she hears again like an echo, “You will do well here at Heavenly Productions, young lady.”)

Sometimes, often, Cora fantasised that she might jump down from the stage and gallop away, trampling all the righteous souls and smashing Heaven to pieces as she went. She imagined that she might flee onto that damned elevator and follow June down, down, down of her own free will, going for a fall.

She would kill the thoughts then, ruthless and swift, fearful of who might be watching too closely with eyes that undress even her private thoughts. (There is no such thing as privacy in Heaven.)

It was fear that held her back, always and forever fear. She was terrified of what lay below, of the Devil, of the tortures of Hell which surely must be so much worse than the tortures of Heaven.

Her heart ached for June, but what could she do? She was only a wicked girl pretending to be good; a pretty, replaceable little songbird whose wings had always been clipped. Besides, she had done her best. She had warned June, hadn’t she? It was not her fault that June did not listen, never listened.

(“Now you’re on the trolley!”)


End file.
